No One Speaks English

I just got off the ship yesterday and I didn't really have a major problem speaking to the staff.. Maybe the bar staff but that's because it was so loud and when you combine that was strong accents it makes it difficult ..

 

I had more of a problem with the passengers. It's hard when you cannot talk to other passengers. But, I managed to live thru it ;)

I talked to many passengers from Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal etc Some spoke better English than others, but it was fun.

I am not a native speaker myself. :)

One thing I love on MSC cruises is conversing (or trying to!) with different nationalities.

I have had animated, arm waving conversations with the following:

A Russian gentleman and his teenage daughter who told me I looked just like a Russian soap star - Mr moo reckoned he was auditioning for his next wife....

A Norwegian tour guide called Rune who was so funny and one of his tour group (May) who was even funnier and used to make Mr Moo sit on her knee.

A lovely Italian couple who were put out about how much they had paid for their cruise which led to a quite detailed discussion about price differences.

A Swedish lady who was the only one of her nationality on the ship and felt quite lonely. She was so happy to chat to someone.

Many Brazilians on my last cruise who wanted to talk about English football and the World Cup and took my jokes about how bad their team were with (relatively) good grace!

A Russian/Israeli security guard who shared our taxi and gave us some very interesting gossip about ship security.

Loads of bar/wait staff from all over the place. Ukrainian bar staff are the best - they are most likely to pour the strongest drink or mix you something off menu.

I so look forward to each cruise and trying in vain to increase my knowledge of foreign phrases. Plus I usually get to argue with a foreign taxi driver about the price they're charging (at least once per cruise). It's great!

From my ipad

One thing I love on MSC cruises is conversing (or trying to!) with different nationalities.

 

I have had animated, arm waving conversations with the following:

 

A Russian gentleman and his teenage daughter who told me I looked just like a Russian soap star - Mr moo reckoned he was auditioning for his next wife....

 

A Norwegian tour guide called Rune who was so funny and one of his tour group (May) who was even funnier and used to make Mr Moo sit on her knee.

 

A lovely Italian couple who were put out about how much they had paid for their cruise which led to a quite detailed discussion about price differences.

 

A Swedish lady who was the only one of her nationality on the ship and felt quite lonely. She was so happy to chat to someone.

 

Many Brazilians on my last cruise who wanted to talk about English football and the World Cup and took my jokes about how bad their team were with (relatively) good grace!

 

A Russian/Israeli security guard who shared our taxi and gave us some very interesting gossip about ship security.

 

Loads of bar/wait staff from all over the place. Ukrainian bar staff are the best - they are most likely to pour the strongest drink or mix you something off menu.

 

I so look forward to each cruise and trying in vain to increase my knowledge of foreign phrases. Plus I usually get to argue with a foreign taxi driver about the price they're charging (at least once per cruise). It's great!

 

 

From my ipad

Moo,,,,I just started to learn Italian for our sailing in October 2015. I thought it would be only good etiquette to have the ability to somewhat understand and communicate in the local language. Hopefully I won't offend anyone while we're in Genoa,,if all else fails,,I'll resort to using hand gestures.:eek:

Moo,,,,I just started to learn Italian for our sailing in October 2015. I thought it would be only good etiquette to have the ability to somewhat understand and communicate in the local language. Hopefully I won't offend anyone while we're in Genoa,,if all else fails,,I'll resort to using hand gestures.:eek:

Well id learn Indonesian, Hindi, Estonian and Ukranian if i was you then. ;)

Well id learn Indonesian, Hindi, Estonian and Ukranian if i was you then. ;)

Uggghhhh!!!! Looks like Rosetta Stone is going to see a bump in business!!!;)

 

Loads of bar/wait staff from all over the place. Ukrainian bar staff are the best - they are most likely to pour the strongest drink or mix you something off menu.

 

Me "Hi, can I have 2 beers please"

Ukrainian bar waitress "NO! This is not possible; there are many cocktails to choose from."

Me "Okay I'll have 2 BBCs then"

Happy memories.

Me "Hi, can I have 2 beers please"

 

Ukrainian bar waitress "NO! This is not possible; there are many cocktails to choose from."

 

Me "Okay I'll have 2 BBCs then"

 

Happy memories.

Was that our friend "Bubbles" perchance?

Was that our friend "Bubbles" perchance?

I'm ashamed to say I can't remember her name.

Just finished my first Divina cruise, which I will do a writeup on. However I want to address this “nobody speaks English” diatribe that many people post

 

The issue is not that the staff does not speak English, but rather most Americans (I am one) are clueless in how to communicate with people where English is not their first language. The reason for this, most Americans have not learned a 2nd language and therefore are not familiar with the difficulties in being less than fluent in a language.

 

This is made more complicated on Divina, where a passenger is equally likely to speak to the cabin steward in: Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian, French, or English.

 

Here are some tips on how to communicate:

1) Speak directly to the person. It is easy to understand someone when you can look at them as opposed to them being behind you, on the phone, etc.

 

2) Give the person a heads up, such as “May I ask a question?” This gives a heads up so they know what language you will be speaking in.

 

3) Speak clearly and simply and don’t tell long stories. Example: “ listen my wife has fibromyalgia and I suffer from a herniated L3 and have to keep my leg elevated due to prior blood clot. Can you bring me some extra pillows?”

 

He/she will have no idea what you’re talking about. They will smile, nod their heads and walked away. Keep it simple, “can we please get some extra pillows?”

 

4) Saying the same thing louder when they do not understand does not work. Change your words. “Can I get an extra blanket?” They stare at you blankly. Try “can I get an extra duvet?”

 

5) Show them if possible what you are talking about.

 

6) Many cultures, do not like to say “I don’t know.” Example: asking directions in Mexico. Even if they do not know, they will give you directions to someplace. Therefore, before asking a question think whether the person might have the answer. At 6 PM the cabin steward has no clue where your suitcase is. Neither does the front desk, so don’t waste time and aggravate yourself by asking.

 

7) Your cabin steward and busboys do not have PhD’s in English literature. If they did, they would not be cleaning toilets and collecting empty dishes.

 

8) You may have a difficult accent. Georgia, Texas, Alabama and other southern drawls are difficult for foreigners to understand.

 

Where Carnival, NCL, Royal etc. on Caribbean cruises using mainly hospitality staff from the Islands and so therefore English is usually their first language.

 

MSC is a European carrier with 5 or 6 official languages if you want your cabin stewards to be from Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Lucia etc. do not choose MSC, you will be disappointed.

 

Hope this helps. Everyone I encountered spoke some level of English. Some better than others and many quite fluent.

 

If you believe that no one on the ship speaks English, then please look in the mirror and you will discover the problem.

Waoo! this awesome!! Fantastic!! excellent!!

Uggghhhh!!!! Looks like Rosetta Stone is going to see a bump in business!!!;)

Mike....use the free online language lessons from Duolingo. Very similar to Rosetta without the cost.

Trish

Mike....use the free online language lessons from Duolingo. Very similar to Rosetta without the cost.

 

Trish

Thanks Trish!!!!! I've already signed up for a year of Rosetta Stone,,but I'll look into this as well. I think it was Amo who had suggested the Michael Thomas courses as well. All great suggestions and hopefully between them all, I should be able to read and speak at least some Italian before October 2015.

The BBC also provides some free language lessons on their website.

What language do they speak? speak french? French is my first language! ;)

What language do they speak? speak french? French is my first language! ;)

Some will but not many on the Divina. Different story if you were on the Antilles route out of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Officers on all MSC and other senior crew are Italian.

Great advice! I can't tell you how many times I've been on a cruise and heard Americans trying to talk to people from foreign countries while using both a thick southern accent and using slang/expressions only Americans would get. They then get mad that people from other countries don't get this slang/expressions.

Great advice! I can't tell you how many times I've been on a cruise and heard Americans trying to talk to people from foreign countries while using both a thick southern accent and using slang/expressions only Americans would get. They then get mad that people from other countries don't get this slang/expressions.

Americans don't have the monopoly on that. I frequently cringe at the way my fellow Brits spaek to other nationalities, particularly when it is them overseas in someone else's country.

Great advice! I can't tell you how many times I've been on a cruise and heard Americans trying to talk to people from foreign countries while using both a thick southern accent and using slang/expressions only Americans would get. They then get mad that people from other countries don't get this slang/expressions.

That reminds me of a trip to the southern US a few year ago.

Apparently, what I had ordered for breakfast at one of the hotels we stayed at could be had with either grits or hash browns. I did not know what either was, so when the waitress asked me "Grits or hash browns", I did not know what to make of it.

Rather than explaining what it was, she only got louder and angrier and kept repeating the same thing: "I SAID GRITS OR HASH BROWNS".

Bottom line - even people who speak English might not be familiar with the cultural nuances of every region where English is spoken. It never hurts to explain what you are saying.

Mike....use the free online language lessons from Duolingo. Very similar to Rosetta without the cost.

 

 

 

Trish

Thanks Trish! Just downloaded Duolingo. Love it already

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I love and use Pimsleur language courses. Great thing about it - you can learn while driving, no additinal time required. I usually buy course for beginners and then borrow the rest in libruary.

Thank you so much to the original poster for the patient and informative advice. I've seen these language barriers with the staff on every cruise... almost always solvable...sometimes writing your request down on a note can help.

I've been looking into the MSC Divina for a cruise, but hadn't realized that it would have such a diverse PASSENGER pool. A diverse group of employees is common and easily worked around, but it would be a difficult trip (for me) if there were only 20 other English-as-a-first-language passengers.

I can only speak English. My fault, I know. I have been on a past cruise where I was seated with ESL folks for the week, and conversation was difficult. By the end it became so stressful that I'm almost paranoid about cruising again. I'm not a social butterfly to begin with, so the extra challenge of not understanding someone's words isn't enjoyable for me, at all. MSC Divina seems to have many positive attributes, but a language barrier that extreme (i.e. meaning almost nobody on the ship shares my background) is a deal-breaker.

I'm not closed-minded, I'm just single-languaged & don't want to spend a week where I can't relate to anyone. Too stressful.

Thank you so much to the original poster for the patient and informative advice. I've seen these language barriers with the staff on every cruise... almost always solvable...sometimes writing your request down on a note can help.

 

I've been looking into the MSC Divina for a cruise, but hadn't realized that it would have such a diverse PASSENGER pool. A diverse group of employees is common and easily worked around, but it would be a difficult trip (for me) if there were only 20 other English-as-a-first-language passengers.

 

I can only speak English. My fault, I know. I have been on a past cruise where I was seated with ESL folks for the week, and conversation was difficult. By the end it became so stressful that I'm almost paranoid about cruising again. I'm not a social butterfly to begin with, so the extra challenge of not understanding someone's words isn't enjoyable for me, at all. MSC Divina seems to have many positive attributes, but a language barrier that extreme (i.e. meaning almost nobody on the ship shares my background) is a deal-breaker.

 

I'm not closed-minded, I'm just single-languaged & don't want to spend a week where I can't relate to anyone. Too stressful.

Styx...you will not find a language barrier onboard Divina. A good percentage of the pax onboard are American and just about all of the crew you will encounter do speak English,,some better than others.

Styx...you will not find a language barrier onboard Divina. A good percentage of the pax onboard are American and just about all of the crew you will encounter do speak English,,some better than others.

Thanks Mike, I know I need to be open to new things. But the person who posted that there were only ~20 English-first-language speakers on board really swayed me.

Andrew was referring to a sailing from Italy. If you sail the Med, you may encounter fewer English speaking pax onboard but a lot of pointing and hand gesturing is usually enough to get by. I wouldn't worry about Divina though,,there'll be plenty of English speaking pax onboard.

Thanks Mike, I know I need to be open to new things. But the person who posted that there were only ~20 English-first-language speakers on board really swayed me.

That is definitely on a Med sailing, so unless you're considering sailing the Divina when she is back in Europe, you won't have that issue.

Divina we sailed on (:)) had about 50% Americans, and many guests from other countries who could speak English.

Honestly... I missed international flare as everything was in English.